Problems of mobility can result from many causes including injury, age, disease and disability. While the present invention intends to assist mobility issues caused by any of the foregoing, in particular, the subset for senior citizens and/or individuals requiring moderate assistance is most preferred.
Modern societies have seen substantial growth in the population of older citizens and the cost of health care is a significant budgetary concern. The science of aging has progressed enormously over the years driven by necessity. The world's population is growing older, due to rapid advances in medical science. In developed countries around the globe, today's average age expectancy is at least eighty years old. Hence, mobility is a must for seniors and it also an issue for patients in rehab. The vast increase of people running on concrete surfaces and the engagement in a variety of sports results in an inevitable and parallel increase in muscle and ligament injuries. This means there is an added market for a device that assists in recovery whilst mobility is limited.
As we age we undergo musculoskeletal deterioration which in turn affects how we move. Social contact with family and friends is adversely affected through reduced mobility. In itself, this has deleterious psychological as well as physiological consequences.
The cost and availability of home care for senior citizens is significant. Balancing the budget for the government facing expanding medical bills, is of overwhelming concern, and is a highly controversial political issue. Not all costs are covered by insurance whether private or governmental, and some of this price burden falls upon the individual. Being out of pocket is worrying for the elderly, who try to make ends meet, or whose pensions are limited.
Stability is also important for seniors. In a recent news report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers claim elderly people are suffering brain injuries due to falls that are occurring at an increased rate. The research attributes the rapid rise to the fact that a growing number of elderly people are living at home. It is at home that repeated tumbles and falls occur. The report states that one in every forty five Americans seventy five years old and older suffered brain injuries that resulted in emergency department visits, hospitalization or deaths in 2013. Furthermore, there is a devastating upward trend in these resulting injuries. There was a 76% increase from 2007 to 2013 in this age group.
Current traditional walking aids and devices such as walking sticks, canes, scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, rolators, and such are helpful. However, they are not entirely satisfactory in assisting mobility and independence. While they do provide the user with increased mobility the users actions are limited. In addition the user may not always feel stable using these devices. The actions that the user takes can be quite limited. Can a senior citizen scooter to change the TV channel in the sitting room? Is a wheelchair always appropriate to go from bed to the bathroom? A cane is a traditional walking aid but is limited in enhancing mobility. Walkers force the senior citizen into a crouching position that might affect the muscles of the back. Crutches can often be difficult to handle. In these and a multitude of other circumstances, this walking device addresses diverse situational needs.
The present invention provides an advantage over these known traditional devices by providing, in some embodiments, a compact, light weight walking aid device made, for example, of a front horizontal tubular column for steering including a handle and hand break at the top end and a sprint and front wheel system at the bottom end; attached to a back tubular column. In some embodiments, the back tubular column is connected to the front column by a metal plate at the top end, a folding mechanism at the lower end and a back wheel system at the bottom end.
None of the walking aid devices are believed to provide the unique structure of various embodiments of the invention device which advantageously uses light weight materials. An advantage of the present invention over these known devices is in the provision of a device which provides the user with mobility and stability as well as being compact, portable and can be used easily. Moreover, the present invention is economically affordable for the consumer as compared to various known devices.
Therein, the invention features: affordability; portability; stability; mobility; foldability; liftability. Social services benefit from the invention, as does the senior citizen who finds an enhanced independence of living and an improved quality of life. Age related chronic sickness and disability are part and parcel of the cycle of life, but expectations about how later life is to be spent and enjoyed are the focus of much research and ever increasing attention. The device meets the concerns raised by this research. Given to the desire for seniors to engage in physical activity and social intercourse, despite problems relating to mobility, stamina, balance, joint flexibility, agility, walking speed, and physician condition, an invention that encourages movement is an undoubted benefit in the ongoing battle against the manifold problems of increasing age.
The invention device advantageously facilitates the moving from point A to point B. However, there are a whole host of other related benefits that accrue from use of various embodiments of the invention. With increased mobility, research shows that these benefits are cumulative; blood pressure regulation; weight control; cardiovascular improvement; osteoporosis mitigation; diabetic disease control; even possible cancer prevention is attributed to increased movement. New scientific strategies on countering age related issues focus inexorably on improvement in mobility.
Neglect of regular motion in joints, gait, posture, ability to transfer from one surface to another produces problems in the last quarter of life. What is natural in early life, namely basic movement, require skills that this handy device enhances in a multipurpose and practical way.
With the onset of arthritis and rheumatism, the senior citizen takes shorter steps and strides, has reduced ankle extensions, and abridged pelvic rotations. The skeletal and muscle deficits of declining age and senescence cannot be completely eliminated but they can be ameliorated and addressed by this invention and even longevity may be improved.
Just going outdoors, coping day to day, facing the dangers of falling, pressing the pause button on immobility, preventing fractures because neuromuscular functions become uncoordinated—all these are problems that are rendered less critical by this invention.